Unknown Warriors

THURSDAYS 18th & 25th JUNE

The selection of wines for this tasting is a premium one, but the wines are seriously impressive and rarely seen on UK shelves. What’s more, if you were to buy this selection today you would have to pay £105 plus £9.95 delivery. Exclusively for our tasting the price is £85 with free UK delivery. That’s a genuine discount of £29.95, the biggest we’ve ever negotiated for a tasting.

What’s the Theme of This Tasting?

With an estimated 1500 wine grapes in commercial production somewhere in the world, it’s staggering to think that over half of the world’s wine is made from just 33 of them. That’s what makes our focus on rare and unusual grape varieties so exciting.

Undiscovered countries and regions are the source of so much interest too. Taken together, Italy, France and Spain make 50% of all bottled wine. Indeed, 88% of the entire world of wine is bottled by just 11 countries.

This tasting will buck this homogenous trend, delving into less well-known grapes and regions, but will be doing so with six superb wines with heritage and the highest credentials.

What We’ll Taste Week One

Our white selection begins with one of Sicily’s less common varieties: Grillo. Once used to make the island’s fortified wine, Marsala, here in the north of Sicily it is vinified as a dazzling and refreshing, organic white. From one Mediterranean island to another: Majorca. Bla Bla Bla isn’t all talk: it’s a fascinating blend of Premsal and Giró Ros. Both are indigenous to Majorca, the pink-skinned Giró Ros having only just being saved from extinction. Concluding our white wines is a Ribolla from one of the acknowledged star winemakers of Slovenia: Marjan Simcic. From 30-year-old vines facing the Collio region of Italy, it’s a fantastic example of one of the country’s most important grapes.

What We’ll Taste Week Two

First red is a Rioja: not so unusual you may think? Well this one is made from Maturana Tinta, which makes up less than 0.5% of Rioja’s vines. Our island hopping continues with a trip to Paros in the Cyclades. The Paros Farming Community is preserving island traditions whilst thoroughly modern in its approach, like our wine made from the indigenous Mandilaria. A crisp, redcurrant and cranberry red with surprising refreshment value. Our final contender is yet another island wine, from Sardinia. The main variety here is Carignano, otherwise known as Carignan. Not the most obscure of grapes I admit, but this is pretty special wine – and we don’t drink Sardinian wines every day.

The Wines

The six wines would normally cost £105 plus £9.95 delivery. Exclusively for this tasting they are offered for just £85 including UK mainland delivery. That’s a genuine saving of £29.95.

The Tasting

This tasting runs over two sessions, from 7pm – 8:15pm each evening. The ticket price of £27.50 covers both sessions and is per household, not per person. We’ll open three wines each night, but they’ll drink just as well over the next couple of days so nothing is wasted. And of course, if you miss a live tasting session we’ll send you the video recording to taste along in your own time.